Staff Reporter

Margao

Nikunj Gupta and Prasad Fadte made light work of the challenges posed by Camy D’Cruz and Mervin Soares, with the former two winning 6-0 in their respective matches on the inaugural day of the state ranking tennis tournament, in the men’s 45+ singles category.

More than 120 tennis players from Goa, across various age categories will clash at the BPS All-Goa State Ranking Tennis Tournament 2023, which got underway on Saturday at the iconic BPS Sports Club in Margao.

In two other matches in the same veterans category, Dmitry Smirnov beat Jude Cardozo 6-2 while Rajesh Bundela beat Venctexa Burye 6-4.

The match between Brian Fernandes and Mackelroy Barretto was a closely fought affair though with Brian managing to finally edge out Mackelroy, winning the match 7-5.

While the veterans category matches in the BPS All-Goa State Ranking Tennis Tournament 2023 got underway on Saturday, all other open category tennis matches will commence on May 15 and conclude on May 20.

In all, 126 tennis players have registered to participate in the BPS All-Goa State Ranking Tennis Tournament 2023 which has been organised jointly by the prestigious BPS Sports Club in Margao and the Goa State Tennis Association (GSTA).

The total prize money for winners of the various categories in the tournament is Rs. 70,000.

Several top tier tennis players have registered to play for the tournament including Tejas Shevde, Mano Chhabra, while junior champions namely Darsh Pai and Tithee Bhoomkar will also be competing in the event.